Discovery
by TiggitNeko
Summary: He's Flim! He's Flam! But do the ponies know the REAL them? The answer is no. They dont even know the half. Everybody hoped they had seen the back of the brothers, but when Rarity finds them in quite the state of disrepair in the middle of Everfree forest, The Mane Six will discover more about the twins...and their horrible circumstances.
1. Chapter 1

**HEYYA!**

**just lettin' ya know i love flim and flam. flim especially. they need more love :3**

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**Discovery**

Rarity rolled her eyes at nothing in particular as she walked on.

Barely five minutes out of Ponyville and her beautiful, shiny buffed hooves were already ruined by the thick, black mud that clung like glue as she navigated her way through Everfree forest to collect her mane-taining potion from Zecorah.

Why, oh, _why_ did she have to live in the creepiest place in equestria?

"Curses to nature!"

She complained loudly to herself as she tiptoed around a particularly prickly patch of Spiker plants, only just managing to untangle her tail before the sharp leaves curled in on themselves. She shuddered.

"uurgh, it's simply revolting! And just _look_ at the dreadful state of my poor tail. It's simply frightful!"

The white pony flicked her mane in disgust as she flounced on.

"hmph. These plants are frankly barbaric, and the ground is so icky, and things keep _dripping_ on me-"

However, as she worked her way deeper into the forest, she let up on the relentless flow of moaning, feeling that perhaps she shouldn't be quite so loud in this unfamiliar territory.

she _was _ a defenceless pony, afterall.

There could be all sorts of dangerous animals lurking in the trees, waiting for the opportunity to pounce on an unsuspecting pony, great jaws glistening with saliva and mouthfuls of sharp, deadly teeth…

Rarity mentally shook herself. Scaring herself silly was probably not the best idea in the middle of a dark forest, all alone…

There was a faint noise beyond the prickle bushes, and she shrieked in terror, leaping behind a tree and clamping her hooves over her mouth in an attempt to muffle the sound, completely forgetting in her fright that they were caked in sticky mud.

Finally, her heart stopped pounding, and she realized what she had done.

She growled to herself as she tried to wipe the mud from her mouth, only succeeding in spreading it, commando style, all over her face.

She was about to start a brand new volley of insults to nature, when a she was stopped by another faint sound. Pricking up her ears, she listened intently.

It was a weak, cracked humming sound that wavered and broke at random points.

It reminded her faintly of someone humming a song, although the inconsistent nature of the humming made it hard for her to pick out a tune.

When it stopped abruptly, and she heard a deep intake of breath, she realized it _was_ someone humming a song.

Taking a few cautious steps towards the spikey foliage, Rarity took a chance.

"hello?"

There was no answer, and the humming continued.

"excuse me?"

Now that she was closer, she began to catch on to the rhythm of the faint strains of song.

The song sounded vaguely familiar, becoming more so as the fogs of her memory cleared, dredging up old tunes that she had forgotten about, comparing them to the hum, then discarding them.

Then, finally it clicked.

Her jaw fell open as she finally placed the tune.

Stepping carefully over the spiker plants, she stared at the figure of a tall stallion, slumped beneath a tree. Another stallion lay at his feet.

"no…it-it cant be!"

"_take this op-per-tun-ity…"_

She heard the words sung under the slumped stallion's breath.

"_in this ve-ry com-mu-nity_

"Flim and Flam?!"

Flim started, letting out a wheezing gasp as he whipped his head to look at the white unicorn.

Flam didn't move.

The younger twin struggled to his hooves, apparently having trouble with his right foreleg, backing away from her in a jerking, unsmooth motion.

When he spoke, his words were stuttered and trembling.

"y-you're f-f-from ponyv-ville…"

His jaunty boater hat was missing, and both the brothers waistcoats were stained with a dark substance, and torn jaggedly.

Rarity looked at the state of them, taking in their bedraggled appearance.

She walked forwards, holding her head up and eyeing Flim defiantly.

"What are you doing back? You have some nerve showing your faces anywhere near ponyville, you-you…Swindlers!"

To her surprise, the pale yellow stallion actually whimpered, scooting further from her.

She watched as he nudged his prone brother, who's moustache was drooping, candy-cane mane matted and tangled.

"Flam…" he whispered hoarsely, glancing flittingly at Rarity every second.

"Flam…get up…Flam, I need you…Get up…"

Rarity frowned.

As she trotted forwards, eyeing the still figure of Flam, who was laying on his side, she realized that there was definitely something off here. Flam appeared to be unconscious, and Flim appeared to be a little unhinged.

It dawned on her that something terrible must have happened to reduce confidant, smug Flim to the cowering bundle of nerves he was now.

She turned back to him, using a gentle, calm voice with the skittish unicorn.

"Flim…what's going on?"

He just stared at her, mute, before nudging his brothers face with his nose hopefully, being as gentle as possible.

There was no response.

Rarity found it quite sad, heartbreaking really, as she watched a fully grown stallion sink down hopelessly, laying his head on his sibling's neck and sobbing fit to cause a flood.

Finally giving in to the pity that welled up in her heart, Rarity walked to him, sitting in the mud beside him and laying a comforting hoof around his shoulders.

She was still puzzled, but apparently now was not the time for questions.

She sat in the forest with her foreleg wrapped firmly around Flim until eventually, an hour and a half later, his eyelids drooped, and he fell quietly into sleep.

Rarity sat a little longer until finally,stiff, she gently pulled back from the stallion, rotating her shoulders to work out the cricks.

Then she approached the fallen figure of Flam, who hadn't moved an inch.

She wondered if he was even breathing.

Carefully, she stepped over the sleeping salespony to check his brother's pulse, something she had learned to do in her "health-and-safety for the high-class" classes.

For a few moments, she felt nothing, and a strange dread began to wash over her, until finally, she felt it. Slow and faint, but still there. Just.

With this discovery lifting her spirits a little, she hardened her resolve.

An idea had been floating around in her head for a while now. _She could run back to ponyville and get a team of medics to bring them back..._

Ponyville wasn't more than ten minutes trot from here, and despite how much the residents disliked the pair, it was painfully obvious that at least Flam needed urgent help.

And when Flim was less shaken up, she and the girls could find out what terrible thing had happened.

With a last glance at the pair, she galloped off through the mud and leaves.

She would have to explain to Zecorah later.

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**And thats the first chapter, folks. stay tuned for more, and don't forget to review with any ideas for the story line! i'm always happy to hear suggestions and advice.**

**this one was a little quick, i know. it happens to me when i get into the story in my head.**


	2. Chapter 2

Paste your docum

Twilight Sparkle hummed to herself absently as she trotted across the thick wooden floor of her library, tossing books to the top shelves with a slight twitch of her head here and there, and levitating her quill and ink back to their positions on the desk.

She could hear Spike snoring not-so-gently in his sprawled out position on her bed upstairs, and she smiled as she stepped into the beams of sunlight that filtered in through the window, warming her gently as birds sang on the upper branches of her tree, fluttering and basking in the sunshine, preening their feathers.

Setting down the books she was levitating, she walked to the glass and looked out on the beautiful day with a fond sigh.

Suddenly, something rocketed past the window, throwing up a huge cloud of dust in its wake, little more than a blur with its speed.

She shrieked and leapt away from the window, running for the door, which she flung open with magic, and hurtling outside to see none other than Rarity dashing backwards and forwards again and again, in what she assumed was a blind panic.

"Rarity?!"

The white unicorn stopped dead, and when she saw Twilight, she squealed and ran towards her.

"Oh, Twilight it's _horrible_ you can't even _imagine_ what I've just seen I can't believe it and I was so worried and I don't even _like_ them-"

"woah woah woah! Calm down! Whats got you all worked up like this?" Twilight put a foreleg over her friend, trying to comfort her. Rarity looked awful, covered in mud and slime, and her mane and tale were knotty and tangled. She wondered if Rarity had run into trouble in the Evergreen forest.

With a foreleg to her head, Rarity heaved a dramatic sigh, "It's the Flim Flam Brothers, you do remember them?" Twilight nodded

"I was walking to Zechora's house to collect my main-taining potion, and they were just _lying_ there, I mean, Flim was _sitting_ but THAT'S NOT IMPORTANT! I thought Flam was dead, but he wasn't and Flim was just so _terrified_….My point is, I need a team of medics to come with me quickly! And I mean _quickly!_"

Twilight stared at her for a second as she sucked in breath.

"Okay….you can explain the whole story properly later. Lets go!"

* * *

Flim blinked slowly. He felt sluggish and low, and his left flank hurt like hell.

Not yet orientated to his surroundings, he realized that he must have dozed off at some point without meaning too, because his joints ached from the awkward way he was folded in on himself.

Wincing as he shifted his stiff back legs, He became aware that the slight bodyheat of his brother that had helped to keep him a little calm was gone.

Gone.

Could that mean…?

Sudden, merciless despair and fear bolted through the younger brother, crushing down on his chest and tearing a wail from him that scored his sore throat, making his voice crack and shatter under the brutal onslaught of emotion.

However, as he struggled to pick himself up from his almost foetal position on weak, jelly legs, he realized that the ground beneath him was soft and dry, and didn't rustle as the carpet of leaves in the Everfree forest ought to.

Coughing his surprise as he took in this new information, he shook his head slowly from side to side, trying both to clear his vision enough to get a proper look at his surroundings and not aggravate his pounding headache even more in the process.

Numbly pulling his limbs into a more comfortable position, Flim gazed around in confusion at the white walls and the soft white sheets that surrounded him, the chrome medical equipment that sat on low tables neatly beside rows of beds.

A hospital?

Finally, his gaze fell on the prone figure in the bed to the right of his.

Flim Craned his neck almost painfully far, straining his eyes as he desperately tried to see his brother's condition from where he was, stranded by weak limbs on a bed that seemed too far away….

He was worryingly still, but to his relief, he could see the yellow-furred chest moving rhythmically up and down.

Darkness clawed at his vision, and Flim, content for now with the knowledge that his brother was alive, let himself slip into oblivion.

ent here...


End file.
